Referring to FIG. 1, known musical instruments fall into various categories or families. For example, there are four known main categories of musical instruments: aerophones (wind), chordophones (strings), electrophones, and percussion. There are two known categories of percussion musical instruments: idiophones and membranophones. Further, there currently are two known categories of idiophones: pitched idiophones and unpitched idiophones. Known pitched idiophones typically resonate at a specific pitch or tone when caused to vibrate (e.g., by striking, scraping, rubbing or plucking.) As such, known pitched idiophones emit a single tone or pitch and therefore require vibration of a plurality of pitched idiophones simultaneously to achieve a chord or note combination. Musicians hoping to incorporate known pitched idiophones into musical compositions are often limited by the number of idiophones that can be vibrated or caused to vibrate simultaneously. Further, if a player desires to play separate types of idiophonic instruments, individual idiophones are required for each separate type. Typical idiophones have not been configured or adapted to produce a variable tone and/or pitch (e.g., with a single strike, scrape, rub, or pluck.)
In music, a glissando or portamento is a glide from one pitch to another. Known idiophones cannot glide continuously from one pitch to another (i.e., without the discrete tones being clearly audible). It is also difficult to bend notes produced by known idiophones.
Idiophones sounding in the lower registers (e.g., bass and baritone) are not also currently widely available. This may be due to size and storage requirements and purchasing and maintenance costs.